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Conservative group urges 'no' vote on Sandy aid

Well, cross the Club for Growth off New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's holiday card list. The club, a group of economic conservatives that's been a player in recent elections, is urging House members to vote

Well, cross the Club for Growth off New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's holiday card list.

The club, a group of economic conservatives that's been a player in recent elections, is urging House members to vote "no" on the next installment of emergency aid to help victims of Superstorm Sandy. The House is likely to debate Tuesday on two bills that combined would provide about $51 billion in aid.

"Disasters may be unpredictable, but we know with 100% certainty that they will occur," Andy Roth, the Club for Growth's vice president of government affairs, wrote in an e-mail to House members. "Therefore, Congress shouldn't keep passing massive 'emergency' relief bills that aren't paid for, have little oversight and are stuffed with pork."

The club says the Sandy relief vote will be one of the votes that will be included in its scorecard.

Christie, a popular Republican, has criticized the slow pace of aid coming to New Jersey and New York from the federal government. He's also made no secret of disliking the way Washington works and notes how many days Sandy victims have waited for federal aid compared with people affected by Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.

At a news conference Monday, Christie warned the GOP-led Congress to not mess around with New Jersey. "If they want to make new rules about disasters, well, they picked the wrong state to make the new rules with," he said about attempts to revamp the disaster aid process.

There were 67 "no" votes on the first installment of Sandy aid: a $9.7 billion measure to help pay for insurance claims. All of the nays came from Republicans, including such conservative stalwarts as Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential nominee.